Home Office

Visas: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the viability of Ukranian women travelling alone, with children or with elderly parents being able to undergo visa checks in the UK on arrival.

Kevin Foster: Since Tuesday 15 March, Ukrainians with valid passports applying for either the Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine Scheme have not needed to go to a Visa Application Centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UKInstead, once their application has been considered and the appropriate checks completed, they will receive direct notification they are eligible for the scheme and can come to the UK. Individuals will still need to provide their biometrics once safely in the UK within six months of their arrival.The visa application process includes checks to ensure the welfare of vulnerable applicants, including lone women and those aged under 18, is safeguarded.

Emergency Travel Documents: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will enable children under the age of 18 to travel from Ukraine to the UK without documentation in either the (a) family resettlement or (b) the humanitarian community schemes.

Kevin Foster: Allowing children to travel without documentation presents several safeguarding risks, in addition the Ukrainian Government has been clear unaccompanied Ukrainian Children should not be placed in the care of foreigners without their consent.Eligible individuals for the Ukraine Family Scheme and the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ must therefore ensure they apply online and receive their visa or permission to travel letter prior to their travel to the UK. The visa application process includes several checks to ensure the welfare of applicants aged under 18 is safeguarded.Children under the age of 18 from Ukraine do not require a valid passport to submit an application, but if they have one they can take advantage of the fully online application system and are not required to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC). Children over the age of five without a valid passport will be required to provide their biometric information (photograph and fingerprints) at a VAC, children under the age of five without a valid passport will only be required to have their photograph taken at a VAC.If vulnerable children do not have a valid passport, UKVI staff will work with individuals and Border Force to facilitate their entry to the UK.

Refugees: Ukraine

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will provide the same package of support to local authorities for Ukrainian refugees as for Afghan refugees.

Kevin Foster: The UK has a long and proud history of welcoming people, including recent arrivals from Syria, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. Every scheme is different and learns from the successes or challenges of those before.The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the Government’s humanitarian response, is a very different set of circumstances to those which led to the Government’s other humanitarian schemes; and these different circumstances require different responses.Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sponsors are offered a thank you payment of £350 per month for up to twelve months. The Government will provide funding of £10,500 per person to local authorities to enable them to provide support to families and integrate them into communities.

Refugees: Ukraine

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the devolved Administrations on a United Kingdom approach to supporting refugees from Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: This question can be best answered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), and should therefore be directed to that Department.The DLUHC is also working closely with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to promote the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Department of Health and Social Care

Care Workers: Car Allowances

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to help ensure that health service employees including care workers, who are paid a mileage allowance, have the rate per mile increased.

Edward Argar: The reimbursement of travel costs for National Health Service staff is covered by the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and NHS trades unions. The current rate of reimbursement is 56 pence per mile. The NHS Terms and Conditions sets out the process for reviewing the rate of reimbursement every six months. This includes reviewing fluctuations in fuel prices.The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central Government. HM Revenue and Customs sets the approved mileage allowance rate at 45 pence per mile for 10,000 miles. Employees can claim tax relief if they are reimbursed at less than 45 pence per mile.

Ambulance Services: Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce ambulance (a) response and (b) handover to A&E times in Shropshire.

Edward Argar: Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is working with West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and community partners to reduce conveyances of some patients to hospital as clinically appropriate, providing alternate treatment and care at home or in the community. The Trust is also working with WMAS to cohort ambulance patients at accident and emergency (A&E) departments. This involves a single ambulance crew taking responsibility for three to four patients within the A&E department, releasing crews to respond to outstanding calls in the community.Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System also launched a winter health campaign to the end of March, designed to influence public behaviour with messaging to encourage the use of NHS 111 and local pharmacies, so that A&E departments are only used when necessary. Ambulances also have direct access to a same day emergency care centre at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the upgrade works to the emergency department at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on patient flows, including ambulance handovers; and what steps he plans to take to monitor performance following that upgrade.

Edward Argar: A formal assessment has not yet been made as many of the process changes in the emergency departments have only recently been implemented. The reconfiguration of the emergency departments at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital will provide a dedicated children and young People’s zone; a clinical decisions unit; and a designated ambulance stopping place or handover cubicle, with five trolley spaces and an area for patients who do not need a cubicle or bed.NHS England and NHS Improvement and commissioners monitor and discuss the performance of all National Health Service providers.

Long Covid: Research

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) name and (b) proportion of the £50 million funding for research into long-covid of each study that will be supported by that funding.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the research projects funded through research calls for the long term effects of COVID-19 and by the National Institute for Health Research through its funding streams, with the proportion of the £50.97 million investment received.  Project descriptionPercentage of investmentREACT-Long COVID (REACT-LC) programme10.7%Non-hospitalised Children & young people (CYP) with Long Covid (The CLoCk Study)3.6%Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study)4.4%Characterisation, determinants, mechanisms and consequences of the long-term effects of COVID-19: providing the evidence base for health care services18.8%Development of a robust T cell assay to retrospectively diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection and IFN-γ release assay as diagnostic and monitoring assay in Long COVID patients0.7%Explaining why long COVID patients experience breathlessness and a reduced ability to exercise3.5%The immunologic and virologic determinants of long COVID1.5%Understanding and treating ‘brain fog’2.4%Immune analysis of Long COVID to inform rational choices in diagnostic testing and therapeutics1.1%Understanding and using family experiences of managing long COVID to support self- care and timely access to services1.1%Quality-of-life in patients with long COVID: harnessing the scale of big data to quantify the health and economic costs1.3%Optimising standards of care for long COVID in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and at home6.7%Using Activity Tracking and Just-In-Time Messaging to Improve Adaptive Pacing: A Pragmatic Randomised Control Trial0.6%ReDIRECT: Remote Diet Intervention to Reduce long Covid symptoms Trial2.0%Co-designing personalised self-management support for people with Long Covid2.2%Percutaneous Auricular Nerve Stimulation for Treating Post-COVID Fatigue (PAuSing-Post-COVID Fatigue)1.3%Developing and testing the best ways to diagnose, treat and provide rehabilitation for people with long COVID13.3%Impact of COVID-19 vaccination on preventing long COVID: a population-based cohort study using linked NHS data0.4%Long COVID Core Outcome Set (LC-COS) project0.3%UK evaluation of NHS support post-hospitalisation for COVID19 to inform service development and achieve holistic, integrated, equitable and cost-effective services1.0%Post-hospital COVID-19 Study (PHOSP-COVID)16.5%HEAL-COVID - a study to develop treatments for COVID-19 that reduce the longer-term death and disability6.9%

Surgical Mesh Implants

Aaron Bell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which specialist surgical mesh removal centres are (a) offering rectopexy mesh removal and (b) expected to be offering rectopexy mesh removal within the next 12 months.

Maria Caulfield: The specialist mesh services in operation do not currently offer rectopexy mesh removal. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working to commission rectopexy services within the specialist mesh centres, to treat those who have been adversely affected by rectopexy mesh. The information requested on the specialist mesh services offering rectopexy mesh removal within the next 12 months is not yet available.

General Practitioners

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full time equivalent general practitioners, excluding those still in training, there were per head of population in England (a) in each year since 2015 and (b) to date in 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The information is not held in the format requested.

Dental Services: Reform

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on his plans to reform dentistry; if he will make it his policy as part of those reforms to set up a system of patient registration similar to that applied in general practice where patients can join a practice within a certain distance to their home; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: We are currently negotiating with the British Dental Association on initial proposed changes to the National Health Service contract for dental services. We expect to announce the outcome of these negotiations shortly and will set out an implementation timetable when this concludes. The development of further long term proposed changes will progress during summer and autumn 2022.Unlike general practice, dental patients are not registered to a particular practice. A dental practice can accept a patient for a course of treatment if it has capacity to do so. There are no geographical restrictions on which dental practice a patient may attend, allowing patients the choice of where they receive treatment.

Polycystic Kidney Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of women in the UK have been diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in the latest period for which figures are available.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, NHS Digital’s data shows that between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 141 finished admission episodes (FAEs) for female patients with a primary diagnosis of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in England, with a further 110 FAEs for female patients with unspecified polycystic kidney disease.A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. These admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

GP Surgeries: Opening Hours

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on GP surgery opening hours (a) outside of core hours and (b) at weekends to increase accessibility for the public.

Maria Caulfield: The new Enhanced Access arrangements in England, based on Primary Care Networks providing bookable appointments outside core hours between 6.30pm and 8pm on weekday evenings and 9am and 5pm on Saturdays, will begin in October 2022. NHS England and NHS Improvement held two virtual workshops on patient access in July and August 2021 including members of the public, representatives from national patient groups, carer organisations and voluntary and health organisations including general practitioner practices and clinical commissioning groups. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also engaged with the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee on the new Enhanced Access arrangements. Enhanced Access is in addition to Out of Hours Services from 6.30pm to 8am on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.

Protective Clothing: Storage

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of personal protective equipment are in storage in shipping containers; and what the cost is to the public purse of that storage.

Edward Argar: As of 14 February 2022, 5.5 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) are being held in container storage. The Department does not store PPE in containers at ports. Storage costs for containers in that week were £249,000 per day.

5G: Health Hazards

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the European Parliament's Panel for the Future of Science and Technology report on the health impact of 5G.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) are aware of the European Parliament’s report. The UKHSA and COMARE will review emerging evidence and provide advice to inform the Government’s policy making.

Yellow Card Scheme: Coronavirus

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2022 to Question 121676 on Yellow Card Scheme: Coronavirus, what the average time taken is to analyse each yellow card; whether yellow cards reporting serious injury or death are subject to more detailed analysis; and if he will ask the MHRA to share the assessment of an individual report when the patient who is the subject of that report so requests.

Maggie Throup: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have not made a specific assessment of the average time taken to analyse a Yellow Card reports. However, reports received are promptly recorded on the MHRA’s adverse drug reaction (ADR) database to accurately reflect the specific Yellow Card report which supports effective action on emerging information on harms. Those reports with fatal or serious ADRs are prioritised for review, with events of particular interest given the highest priority.For the COVID-19 vaccines, the MHRA’s assessors perform signal assessment on the Yellow Card data several days a week and events of interest are discussed at twice weekly meetings. Serious Yellow Card reports, particularly those with a fatal outcome, are followed up to enable assessment of the report. There are no plans to request the MHRA to share the assessment of individual reports with the patient.

NHS: Redundancy Pay

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of total NHS redundancy payments for the last year.

Edward Argar: The total value of the redundancy payments incurred by National Health Service in 2020/21 is £27.4 million.The following table shows these costs by voluntary and compulsory redundancies in 2020/21 by the NHS England group and Consolidated Provider Account group. The NHS England group comprises of clinical commissioning groups and NHS England. The Consolidated Provider Accounts group includes NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts.EntityVoluntary redundancies including early retirement contractual costs £ millionValue of compulsory redundancies £ millionNHS England group2.56.1Consolidated Provider Account group2.816.0 Notes:These values do not include mutually agreed resignations contractual costs, early retirements in the efficiency of the service contractual costs and contractual payments in lieu of notice. Exit payments following employment tribunals or court orders and non-contractual payments requiring HM Treasury approval.